Friday, February 15, 2008

Aubrey Huff honestly had a perilous 2007, as he had his worst year career wise and as well caused a ruckus amongst Oriole fans and threw mud on the organization by his stuny of the "Bubba The Love Sponge Show in the off-season.

However, this year he's looking to not only improve, but also honor the memory of a lost friend, Joe Kennedy, who played for the Oakland Athletics and passed away due to a heart condition.

From the Baltimore Sun: Huff is grieving the loss of his close friend, 28-year-old pitcher Joe Kennedy, who collapsed and died in the early morning of Nov. 23 at his in-laws' home in Tampa. The cause of death was listed as hypertensive heart disease that went undetected in his yearly physicals.

"If you have it, I guess you don't really know," said Huff, who had dinner with his former Tampa Bay teammate two nights before the pitcher's death. "I don't know how that works, but apparently, we're just so unprotected. We have no idea, even with all the EKGs we take.

"It's a tough time. It was very unfortunate. He was an awesome dude. Life's fragile and you just never know when you're going to go. It can happen to anybody."

Huff requested switching his number to 17 after checking with Kennedy's wife.

"I asked her if it would be cool if I wore it this year because that's what he wore in Tampa," Huff said. "I wanted to wear that for him this year."

Though the vast majority of readers don't think very high on Aubrey Huff due to his play and his utter lack of judgment in the off-season, but let's give the man some credit for taking the time and having the heart to honor a fellow major leaguer and good friend.